Internal-combustion engine.



H. C. CLEAVER, INTERNAL COMBUSNGN Ewen-QL APPLICATEON' HLED' OCT. 23, 1909A 3.9 Wg@ mmm E@ H. C. CIEM/ERI INTERNAL coMuswoN ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 23.v I909. 9Z/`7'Q%Q Patented F9522, 1916.

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H. C. CLE/WER.

NYERNAL COMBUSHON ENGINE. v

APPLICATION FILED 0CT.23,1909. A 994@ I, latentsd Een ,22, 916- 4 SHETS-SHEET 3.

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Hx C. GLEN/EH INTERNAL' COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLlcATloN FILED 0cT.23.1909.

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l HOWARD C. CLEVER, 0F LONDON, ENGLAND.

I 1NTEBNALCOMBUSTION ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Felle. ft2, ti.

' Application led October 23, 1909. Serial No. 52ft,233.

To all whom it may concern.'

lie it known that I, HOWARD CRUNDEN (Hman-zn, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at 35 Berners street, in the county of London, England, engineer, have invented new and useful Improvements in Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in internal combustion engines with single acting cylinders of the class in which a rotating cylindrical valve with its outer surface in contact with the inner surface of the cylinder, is provided with a port adapted to register successively during the rotation of said valve with an exhaust port and an induction port' cut in the walls of the cylinder.

Internal combustion engines of this class have been suggested provided with a cylindrical rotating valve situated inside the closed end of the cylinder which valve was either in the form of a single rotating cylinder or in the form of an inner and outer cylinder respectively adapted to rotate in opposite directions. The said cylindrical valves were provided with extended walls forming the inner lining of the cylinder and were provided with a toothed rim or rims at the extremity of said ext-ended walls adapted to engage gearing rotated by the main shaft of the engine.

According to the present invention I provide a cylinder having a closed and an open end with the ports for induction and exhaust and a reciprocating piston operating therein. 0n the outer surface oi the said cylinder I provide a cylindrical rotating valve which may he in the form of a single rotating cylinder or in the form of an inner and an outer cylinder respectively adapted to rotate in opposite directions.

By the arrangement of the cylinder between the piston and the valve I am enahh-id to avoid thefiiction that would be caused hy the reciprocating movement of the piston directly within the valve while it was itself rotating. Further, by my arrangement the extended walls of said valve may be perforated, grooved or cut away to any convenient extent so that a great deal of friction can be avoided and lubrication assisted without interfering with the perfect sealing ot the ports.

VMy invention lis illustrated by Way of example in the accompanying drawings in whichv I show the rotating valve between the cylinder and an outer cylindrical valve casing which is in the form of a Water jacket apertured for the passage of gases. it will be understood that this outer valve casin Vis not an essential or an integral. portion o the engine of my invention and can, if desired, be dispensed with.

In the accompanying drawings', Figure l shows a sectional side'view ci one unit of my internal combustion engine with a rotary cylindrical valve. Fig. 2 shows a front ele vation partly in section of a four cylinder internal combustion engine built 'up fromunits such as are shown in Fig. l. Fig, 3 shows a plan view partly in section of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the valve 2. Fig. 5 shows a sectional side view of another alternative construction of my internal combustion engine with a valve formed of inner and outer cylinders adapted to rotate in opposite directions, and Fig. 6 shows a section on the line, C--D of Fig. 5.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, I provide a cylinder 1l on 'the outer surface of which is arranged a rotating cylindrical valve 2. The port of said valve is adaptedvto register successively durn ing its rotation, with the exhaust port 4 and the induction port 5, shown more particu larly in Fig. 3, in the upper part of said cylinder 11. The reciprocating piston l0.

moves in said cylinder l1.

As shown in Fig. 1, in which an engine provided with an outer valve casing l is illustrated, the said rotary cylindrical valve 2 is elongated and extended beyond the open end of the cylinder 1l there terminating in the form of a milled or toothed rim 6,`the said toothed rim 6 being engaged by a bevel vgear wheel i", as shown,y or helical gearing or the like, to which the rotary movement.` is communicated through gearing 8 from the sa ft 9 of the engine, thus causing the Asaid cylindrical valve 2 to rotate on the outer surface of the cylinder 1i. Instead of 'the above described toothed rim it will be ob l 14, which is pierced at any convenient point or points to receive a sparking ping 13 or plugs for the purpose of ignition.

The force of the explosion and compression when exerted Within the cylinder during the operation of the engine is partly directed and received upon those portions of the rotating cylindrical valve which, for the time being, close the ports 4 and 5. Owing to the fact that these ports i and 5 are situated Within an arc of about 415, the greater pressure is exerted upon the imperforate side of said rotating cylindrical valve, thereby causing an increase of friction between said valve and cylinder and someivhat impeding the ease of its rotation. To ob'viate this fault (when a valve casing is used) I may perforate the walls of the cylinder opposite to the two ports of said cylinder. This third perforation admits the explosive force to impinge upon that part of the wall of the rotating cylindrical valve opposite to the Asaid ports, thereby giving poise and counterbalance to the rotary valve at all times during the complete cycle of operations.

As will Abe 'readily understood from Figs. l, Q and 3 of the drawings the above described combination of a rotary cylindrical valve, a cylinder and reciprocating piston actuating the crank shaft or the like forms one element or unit of the engine.

In Fig. 4 I have shovvn a cylindrical valve 2 having suitable grooves in the surfaces thereof, said grooves being arranged at an angle with respect to the vertical axis ot' the valve. It will be seen that by this structure the external surface of the valve casing 1 is greatly reduced and consequently friction between the valve and valve casing is reduced.

In Figs. 5 and G I show an alternative construction of the internal combustion engine of my invention. The rotating valve` as shown in the drawings, is here formed of an inner and an outer valve-member 28 and 27 respectively, adapted to be rotated in opposite directions by means of suitable gear' ing. ll a valve casing is used the Walls of said valve-members 28 and 2T may be extended, as shown, and may be provided with milled rims 30 and 2f) respectively at their extremities which are engaged by the bevel wheels 3Q and 37 rotated from the main .shalt ot' the engine. The said outer valvemember Q? is provided with a single port 32, while the inner valve-member 2S is provided with two ports 33 and 34, (see Fig. (i). It will he 'obvious that the said tivo ports 33 and 34- \vith the said port 32 vof ythe rotating valvemember V27 and that this registration Will alternately be effective and ineective. It will be eil'ective when the port of the said 'rotating 'alve-member is in registration with either the exhaust port or the induction port of the piston cylinder. By the arrangement of the said pair of valve-memll register alternately bers rotating in opposite directions I obtain an enlargement of the ports and'efect a more `rapid opening and closing of said ports.

In operationat the moment when the port in the inner valve-member is registering with the inlet port of the cylinder the tion of the shaft the exhaust port is opened and the gases escape during the second return stroke of the piston, thus completing a cycle of four strokes 'of the piston for every revolution of the valve members.

"Vhat I claim is:

l. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a plurality of cylinders, each of the cylinders having opposite induction and exhaust ports in adjacent pairs of said cylinders, pistons reciprocating in said cylinders, a crank shaft rotated by said pistons, a plurality of cylindrical valves with extended grooved walls adapted to rotate within said cylinders, means for rotating one of said cylindrical valves from said crank shaft, toothed flanges on each of said cylindrical valves, -said toothed flanges adapted to communicate a rotary mot1on from the valve rotated from thc crank shaft to the valves of the other engine units.

2. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of an inner andouter cylinder having induction and exhaust ports, of rotary cylindrical valves supported between the cylinders, a piston operating in the inner cylinder so that the walls of the piston will engage the inner Walls of the inner cylinder, one of said valves having groovesin the outer surface thereof, said grooves being disposed at an angle with respect to the vertical plane of the piston.

3. An engine cylinderLv comprising an outer cylinder and an inner cylinder, the inner cylinder being supported in spaced relation with the outer cylinder to form an annular recess between the cylinders, each of the cylinders havingintake and exhaust ports arranged at right angles to each other, a piston operating in the inner cylinder, and means adapted to rotate inthe annular recess, said means adapted to alternately open and close the intake and exhaust ports of the cylinder.

4. In an internal combustion engine, the

.combin ation of a' plurality of cylinders, each of the cylinders having opposite induction and exhaust ports in adjacent pairs of said closed during the compresslon and 1 gnition. (,)n the contmued rotacylinders, pistons reciprocating in said cylinders, a crank shaft rotated by said pistons, a plurality of cylindrical valves with extended walls adapted to rotate without said cylinders, means for rotating said cylindrital valves from said crank shaft.

In an internal combustionengine, the combination of a. cylinder having induction and exhaust ports of a rotary cylindrical valve supported without the cylinder, a piston operating in thecylinder so that the walls of the piston will not engage the inner walls of the valve. said valve having grooves in the surface thereof, said grooves `being disposed at an angle with respect to the vertical plane of the piston.

6. An engine cylinder comprising an outer cylinder' and an inner cylinder, the inner cylinder being supported in spaced relation with the outer cylinder to form an annular recess between the cylinders, each of the cylinders having intake and exhaust ports arranged in pairs, a piston'operating in the inner cylinder, a ported cylindrical valve in the annularI recess, and means` adapted to alternately open and close the intake and exhaust ports of the cylinder by rotation of the said ported cylindrical valve.

T. In an internal comb-ustionengine, the combination with a cylinder comprising an external casing and internal casing spaced apart, of an Oriticed cylindrical valve shell inserted between the two casings of the cylinder, the internal casing having supply and exhaust openings registering respectively with the supplv and exhaust openings in the external casing, a reciprocable piston within the internal casing, the crankshaft,

and connections betweenthe crankshaft and valve shell adapted to turn the same to seal it from both openings.

48. In an internal combustion engine, the I combination'with ya cylinder having an external casing and an internal casing spaced apart and each provdedvwith supply and exhaust openings, of a rotatable cylindrical vvalve shell between said casings and adapted to open and close said openings and to connect the openings in the external casing with the openings in the internal casing, a piston within the internal casing, and connections between the crank shaft and the piston and valve adapted to operate the same. i

9. In an internal combustion engine, the combination with a cylinder casing having orifices communicating with the su ply and exhaust, of a rotatable orificed va ve shell within said casing and an orificed casing within the valve, connections between the crank-shaft and valve shell adapted to rotate the same, a piston within the last-named casing and connections between the crank shaft and piston, to actuate the latter, said valve in its rotation to open communication from the interior 0f the cylinder to the supply and exhaust through said orifices.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' HOWARD C. CLEAVER. lVitnesses:

ARTHUR J. STEPHENS,

Lnoxann E. HAYNns.` 

